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SamsungPatent applicationSecurity & privacyInterest 6/10

Samsung patents storage that saves encrypted data with limited math

Samsung has filed a patent for a storage device that encrypts data using a method that allows calculations to be performed without decrypting it. The system saves the encrypted data in a specific format that is the shortest possible size, which limits how many calculations can be done on it before it must be decrypted.

Why it mattersThis approach could help protect sensitive data on hard drives by allowing some processing to happen while the data remains locked, though it restricts the complexity of those operations.

In the filing’s own words

A storage device includes a non-volatile memory, and a memory controller, wherein the memory controller encrypts plaintext to generate a homomorphic ciphertext with a first level among homomorphic ciphertexts with different levels, stores the homomorphic ciphertext with the first level in the non-volatile memory, and provides the homomorphic ciphertext with the first level in response to a request received from a host. The homomorphic ciphertext with the first level has a smallest length among the homomorphic ciphertexts with different levels.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A storage device comprising: non-volatile memory; and a memory controller configured to encrypt a plaintext to generate a first homomorphic ciphertext with a first level among a plurality of levels, wherein a level of the first homomorphic ciphertext is proportional to a number of homomorphic operations that can be performed on the first homomorphic ciphertext, and wherein the level of the first homomorphic ciphertext is proportional to a length of the first homomorphic ciphertext, and store the first homomorphic ciphertext with the first level in the non-volatile memory, wherein the first level indicates a first number of homomorphic operations that can be performed on the first homomorphic ciphertext, the first number being zero.

Facts

Company
Samsung (Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.)
Official title
STORAGE DEVICE, STORAGE SYSTEM OPERATING METHOD, AND COMPUTING SYSTEM
Publication number
US20260291709A1
Application number
19671681
Filed
May 8, 2026
Published
Sep 24, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
20

Classified under

H04L 9/008 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.